Dirty Dogs
by malignantmandrake
Summary: 100 Prompts Meme - Introduction. A one shot about AU Naruto and Kiba meeting for the first time, Naruto's looking for a new pet to keep him company at the shelter Kiba works at. He's found some company he seems to like, but they're a little less animal than he was expecting!


**1. Introduction**

_Ding~_

The bell at the front door gave a metallic chime. The first thing the teenager noted open his entry was the strong animal smell; he had expected an animal shelter to smell like animals of course, but he hadn't expected it to be so much like sticking his face up in a dog's fur and taking a deep breath. It wasn't wholly unpleasant, it just took a moment to accustom himself to. The second thing he noticed was a lack of other people in the building.

"Hello?" he called out, voice rasping out of his dry throat. The barking of a few dogs out back was his only response at first, then came a human voice.

"Yeah, be right there!"

Naruto relaxed upon affirmation of another person's presence, then turned to the nearest wall. The earlier sound of the bell had woken some of the cats who'd been napping in their cages. Most of them disregarded the noise quickly and laid themselves back down, but a few pushed up against the wire mesh that barred their escape. A blonde boy came into their sight as he entered the center of the room, and though he seemed to be looking everywhere besides them at first, eventually their eyes met. He grinned a bit and stepped over towards the wall, sticking a finger up to one of the cages at random and scratching at the cat's head as best he could.

It took a minute or so for Kiba to enter the room, and he looked even more of a mess than he usually did. Both hands had been washed of the mud coated on them moments ago, but it was still caked underneath his nails along with an unpleasantly slick mixture of dog shampoo. Between his white (or at least, previously white) wifebeater and worn jeans, which had both been splattered with the same mixture, messy hair, and the tattoos adorning his face, Naruto had to admit, he looked a little homely. Then again, what was he expecting from somebody who worked at an animal shelter?

"Sorry about the mess," Kiba murmured, looking down at himself and allowing himself a grunt. "Bath day, and... yeah, anyway." He waved a hand in the air, then folded his arms over his torso. "What can I help you with?"

Naruto had once again pulled himself away from the cats, standing to face the brunette. "No problem!" he assured, letting his own grin spread a little bit at the explanation. "I just kinda came to look around today, that's it."

"Alright. Did you just wanna look at the cats, or are you wanting to look around at the other animals too? The dogs 're out back, and we've got the smaller animals all in a different building- rabbits, reptiles, birds, all those," Kiba explained, eyeing the other up a bit. He looked to be about the same age, maybe a little bit younger; high school senior, if he had to guess. Cleaner and well put together certainly, but considering Kiba's current state, there wasn't much competition.

"Probably just the dogs, too. Mostly interested in those, but I'm gonna take a look at the cats too though."

Kiba nodded and gave a small smirk of his own. "Yeah, sounds good. Just come on out through the back door once you're done in there, then! I'll help you out, we've got a few great dogs in right now, and they're about all cleaned up!"

Naruto caught himself eyeing the other boy up as Kiba made his way through the back door again, then stuffed his hands down into his pockets as he looked through the rest of the cats.

The back door, Naruto found, let do an outdoor area, gated off by fences and lined with cages. There didn't seem to be too much organization to the way they were placed, at least not from what Naruto could tell through his squinted azure eyes. It was a warm day, and he noted how nice the splashing water from the bath must have felt for both the dogs and the brunette washing them. It didn't take long to find the brunette again, Naruto just followed the water trailing down the cement until he found the gated area containing Kiba, the dogs, and the kiddy pool he was at least attempting to wash them in. If it was even possible, Kiba looked even dirtier than he had before. His shirt was made more translucent by the combination of sunlight and added water, and that only made it easier to note his built torso and carved out muscles. Surely, it was enough to make those with weaker composure redden.

"So I guess I lied about being almost done," Kiba grumbled, half to Naruto and half to himself as he heard the other blonde approaching.

Naruto laugh again and hid from the sun under the miniscule shade the chain link fence gave. "Whatever, I've lived with dogs before, I know how it is," Naruto assured, "Had a couple big ones, too! Baths weren't ever too easy."

A nearby towel found itself in Kiba's grip, the worker wiping away at his face and arms. "Oh yeah, what kinds 've dogs?"

"Golden Retriever," Naruto started, "And a Mastiff when I was little."

Kiba responded with a nod, moving to towel off a couple of the nearby dogs before handing a couple of treats out on the palm of his hand. "You look like the kinda guy who'd have a Golden Retriever," he explained, "They're good dogs! Energetic... I bet bath time for that one ended up with watering the entire yard, huh?" He slung the towel over his shoulder and clicked open the lock on the gate, stepping out into the main cement pathway before locking it again.

"Yeah- I don't think we ever watered and washed the dog separate, they both got done at the same time." The blonde beamed and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to shift his gaze around onto some of the dogs and not just their current caretaker.

The larger male allowed himself a final chuckle before folding his arms and leaning back against the gate. "Alright, so, what're you looking for? Smaller, bigger, breed preferences... anything I can help you with?"

Naruto shrugged. "I hadn't really thought about anything specific yet," he admitted, "I'm moving into a new apartment in about a month, so I thought I'd get someone to keep me company while I'm there. I guess medium at the biggest, probably shouldn't have anything huge running around the apartment."

Kiba spread his arms out and pointed up towards himself, raising his eyebrows a bit as well. "Great, you found somebody! I'd be happy to keep you company-" He paused, as if realizing only just then realizing Naruto had been talking about animals. "Oh, you meant a pet! Gotcha."

The blonde rolled his eyes, but smiled regardless. Incredibly cheesy, he noted, but entertaining at least. "Yeah, I meant a pet," Naruto assured, "But company doesn't sound so bad either, y'know."

It was Kiba's turn to give a flustered grin, and give it he did. "Oh yeah? Well, I hope you can find some then," he teased, then waved his arm and started down the pathway to a few of the other cages with dogs to show off. "C'mon, I have a few dogs in mind I wanna show you... oh, and my name's Kiba, by the way. I'm the assistant shelter manager." After wiping his hand off onto his jeans, he extended it out towards Naruto, locking his own dark eyes up into Naruto's lighter irises.

"Oh, right!" Naruto replied, realizing he hadn't introduced himself yet either. "Got it, Kiba. I'm Naruto, and thanks for the help." He reached out and gave the other's hand a shake, a bit surprised by how soft his skin was.

One corner of Kiba's lip perked up in a smirk, showing off one of his canines and the surrounding pearly teeth. "No problem, glad I can help."


End file.
